DATE: NOVEMBER 2004 ISBN: 82-425-1620-0
: OR 68/2004: OR 68/2004
DANIDA DANIDA
EIMP Phasing-out Phase, EIMP Phasing-out Phase, 2003-2004
2003-2004
A National Air Quality Monitoring Programme for EEAA, Egypt
A National Air Quality Monitoring Programme for EEAA, Egypt
Bjarne Sivertsen Bjarne Sivertsen
Environmental Information and Monitoring Programme
Norwegian Institute for Air Research
List of Abbreviations:
AQG(L) Air Quality Guideline (or limit value) AQMS : Air Quality Management System ASU : Ain Shams University
AWS : Automatic Weather Station BTX : Benzene Toluene and Xylene CAIP : Cairo Air Improvement Programme
CEHM : Centre for Environmental Hazard Mitigation CO : Carbon Monoxide
Danida : Danish International Development Assistance DAS Data Acquisition System
DKK : Danish Currency Unit DQO : Data Quality Objective
EEA : European Environmental Agency
EEIS : Egyptian Environmental Information System EIA : Environmental Impact Assessment
EIMP : Environmental Information and Monitoring Programme EPA : Environmetal Protction Ahency
ESPS : Environmental Sector Programme Support EU : European Union
GD : General Directorate (EEAA) GIS : Geographical Information System GOE : Government of Egypt
IGSR : Institute for Graduate Studies and Research (Alexandria) NILU : Norwegian Institute for Air Research
NIS : National Institute for Standardisation NO2 : Nitrogen dioxide
PM10 : Particles with diameter less than 10 micrometer RDE : Royal Danish Embassy
SOP Standard Operations Procedures SO2 : Sulphur dioxide
QA / QC : Quality Assurance / Quality Control TA : Technical Assistance
ToR : Terms of Reference
TSP : Total Suspended Particulate Matter VOC : Volatile Organic Compounds WHO : World Health Organisation
Table of Contents
1 Introduction ____________________________________________5 2 The Objectives __________________________________________6 3 General design criteria ___________________________________7 3.1 Air pollutants to be measured___________________________8 3.2 Site characterisation __________________________________9 3.3 The air quality monitoring system ______________________10 3.4 Instruments and samplers _____________________________11 3.5 Data quality objectives _______________________________12 3.6 Data retrieval ______________________________________13
3.6.1 Data retrieval via telephone lines __________________________ 13 3.6.2 Monitoring stations without telephone lines __________________ 13 3.6.3 Sampling stations ______________________________________ 13
3.7 Quality Assurance and QA/QC procedures _______________13
3.7.1 The quality organisation _________________________________ 14 3.7.2 Documentation ________________________________________ 14
3.8 Reference laboratory ________________________________15
3.8.1 Audits _______________________________________________ 16
3.9 Data storage and database ____________________________16 4 Existing EEAA air quality measurement programmes ________18 4.1 The EIMP air quality monitoring programme _____________18
4.1.1 The sites _____________________________________________ 19 4.1.2 Indicators and compound ________________________________ 20 4.1.3 Summary of the air quality in Egypt ________________________ 21
4.2 Assessment of the CAIP programme ____________________22 5 Proposed future air quality monitoring programme for Egypt _25
5.1 Priorities for Egypt __________________________________25 5.2 Indicators and instruments ____________________________25 5.3 Sites and areas _____________________________________26 5.4 New sites already decided ____________________________27 5.5 Instrument lifetime and upgrading ______________________27 5.6 Proposed future air quality measurement programme _______28 5.7 The highest priority stations for on-line transmission of data _28 5.8 Second priority network ______________________________29 5.9 Sampling sites______________________________________30 6 Air pollution management and planning ____________________33 6.1 An integrated database and air quality management system __33 6.2 The AirQUIS air quality assessment and planning tool ______34
6.2.1 The measurement database _______________________________ 35 6.2.2 Emission inventories ____________________________________ 35 6.2.3 Air Quality models _____________________________________ 35 6.2.4 Exposure and planning __________________________________ 36
7 Training needs assessment _______________________________37
7.2 AirQUIS training seminar ____________________________ 37 7.3 Training for emission inventorying and modelling _________ 37 7.4 Air Quality Management Training _____________________ 38 7.5 Maintenance and service agreement ____________________ 38 8 A rough cost estimate ___________________________________ 39 8.1 The monitoring programme ___________________________ 40 8.2 The database, air quality assessment and planning tool _____ 41 9 References ____________________________________________ 43 Appendix A New proposed Limit Values for Egypt _______________ 45 Appendix B Air pollution limits and target values for Europe ______ 49 Appendix C Reference methods for air pollution measurements in
Europe___________________________________________ 53
1 Introduction
The EIMP project was launched in 1996 with the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) as the implementing agency for an environmental information and monitoring programme covering institutional support, coastal waters, air pollution, point sources emissions and the development of reference laboratories for
improvement of the quality of monitoring data.
The EIMP project is funded by Danida and headed by COWI. NILU was as sub- consultant to COWI responsible for the design, installations, training and
operations of the national air quality monitoring system for Egypt, to be operated by experts in EEAA and at selected monitoring institutions. The design and installations of the monitoring network were completed covering 42 sites all over Egypt in July 1999 while operations and training by expatriate experts continued till the end of 2000.
The EIMP Phasing-out Phase has been formulated to consolidate EIMP achievements, while gradually integrating the EIMP activities and staff into the existing EEAA administrative and organisational structure. The Phasing-out Phase started in 2003.
EEAA has expressed a need for a comprehensive assessment of the overall requirements for establishing a complete national air quality-monitoring network for Egypt. This request has been addressed and included as part of the Phasing Out Phase of the EIMP programme.
This report presents a proposal for a future National Air Quality Monitoring Network for Egypt to be operated by EEAA. The proposal combines the two existing networks developed by the Danida funded EIMP and the USAID funded CAIP programme. Input and comments given by the EIMP and the CAIP staff at EEAA as well as from the experts at the monitoring institutions at CEHM and IGSR have been included in this report.
2 The Objectives
The development objective of the Air Component of the EIMP programme has been to establish detailed knowledge of the ambient air quality in Egypt for the relevant authorities to act to improve the air pollution situation in Egypt. This has been achieved through the establishment of a high quality environmental
monitoring programme.
The objectives of the future national air quality network for Egypt presented in this report have been formulated in co-operation with representatives from EEAA. The information collected so far from the EIMP programme and from the CAIP programme was used to formulate this programme. Also comments and
suggestions given by the EIMP staff at EEAA as well as from the experts at the monitoring institutions at CEHM and IGSR has been used as input to the proposed monitoring programme.
An overall objective of the air quality measurement programme is to obtain a better understanding of the urban and residential air pollution as a prerequisite for finding effective solutions to air quality problems and for sustainable development in the urban environment.
Further it will be important to identify areas where the Air Quality Limit values are exceeded and to identify possible actions to reduce the pollution load and to improve the general environmental conditions of the country.
The main purpose of the air quality measurements will be to identify the possible exposure to the public and to people in general. Information will be collected on ambient air pollution levels in areas where people live and work. The
measurements will cover areas of impact from various sources of pollution.
To enable evaluation and assessments of air quality and to enable trend analyses a network of fixed stations is needed. There are international rules for estimating the minimum number of sampling points for fixed measurements to assess the
compliance with limit values for the protection of human health.
3 General design criteria
The first priority for location of monitoring stations in an urban or residential area will be to identify an area where you would expect the highest concentrations. In many urban areas of Europe as well as in Egypt this may be in a busy street canyon. In some regions it may be downwind from a major industrial source or in areas of extensive waste and agricultural burning.
The following considerations are sited from the European Air Quality Daughter Directives and relates to fixed measurement points directed at the protection of human health (Macro scale siting):
Sampling should be sited to
1. Provide data on the areas within polluted areas or urban agglomerations where the highest concentrations occur to which the population is likely to be directly or indirectly exposed for a period which is significant in relation to the averaging period of the limit value(s);
2. Provide data on levels in other areas within the agglomerations, which are representative of the exposure of the general population.
3. Avoid measuring very small microenvironments in their immediate vicinity. As a guideline, a sampling point should be sited to be
representative of air quality in a surrounding area of no less than 200 m2 at traffic-orientated sites and of several square kilometres at urban-
background sites.
The information shall be available in such a form that it is suitable to:
• Facilitate a general description of air quality, and its development over time (trend);
• Enable comparison of air quality from different areas and countries;
• Produce estimates of exposure of the population, and of materials and ecosystems;
• Estimate health impacts;
• Quantify damage to materials and vegetation;
• Support development of cost-effective abatement strategies;
• Support legislation (in relation to air quality directives);
• Influence/inform/assess effectiveness of future/previous policy.
The assessments should be based upon concentration fields (space-time fields) produced by the monitoring and information network or by a combination of monitoring and modelling, and should cover local as well as regional scale. The
modelling efforts are essential in forming the link between emissions on the one hand and exposure and effects on the other hand.
3.1 Air pollutants to be measured
It is normally not possible to measure all the air pollutants present in the urban atmosphere. We therefore have to choose some indicators that should represent a set of parameters selected to reflect the status of the environment. They should enable the estimation of trends and development, and should represent the basis for evaluating human and environmental impact. Further, they should be relevant for decision-making and they should be sensitive for environmental warning systems.
Local and regional authorities are using the selected set of environmental indicators as a basis for the design of monitoring and surveillance programmes and for reporting the state of the environment.
Air quality indicators should:
• Provide a general picture,
• Be easy to interpret,
• Respond to changes,
• Provide international comparisons,
• Be able to show trends over time.
Measurement techniques should be reasonably accurate and within an acceptable cost. The effect of indicators on health impact, building deterioration, vegetation damage, etc., should be adequately documented and linked to public awareness.
Selected indicators should respond to mitigation actions to prevent manmade negative impacts on the environment.
The most commonly selected air quality indicators for urban air pollution are:
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Sulphur dioxide (SO2), Carbon monoxide (CO),
Particles with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 µm (or 2,5 µm), PM10 (PM2,5),
Ozone.
Most of these indicators have been identified in the air quality limit values as presented in the Law no. 4 for Egypt. Based on impact to public health some selected air quality guideline (AQG) values for most of these indicators have also been presented by the World Health Organisation (WHO, 1987 and 1995).
Air quality limit values have been presented as the Egypt’s Air Quality Standards and Limit Values as stated in Law number 4 of 1994 (EEAA, 1994). Revisions of these standards have been discussed several times during the EIMP programme. In the discussions of high PM10 concentrations frequently measured in Egypt, the natural background levels originating from wind generated dusts in the desert areas was evaluated in a Memo dated 31 May 2003 (Sivertsen and Dreiem, 2004,
Appendix F2). See also Appendix A, which presents the proposed new limit values as well as the limit values and targets for Europe
In the European EUROAIRNET programme priority indicators have been selected for different types of impact to the environment. A summary of the first priority pollutants as given by the European Environmental Agency (EEA) is presented in the Table below.
Table 1: Priority pollutants included in the urban air quality monitoring programmes.
No. ISO- Code9
Formula Name of pollutant Units of
measure ment
Average over
1. 01 SO2 Sulphur dioxide µg/m³ 1 h 2. 03 NO2 Nitrogen dioxide µg/m³ 1 h 3. 24 PM10 Suspended particulates (< 10 µm) µg/m³ 24 h 4. 39 PM2.5 Suspended particulates (< 2.5 µm) µg/m³ 24 h 5. 15? PM1 Suspended particulates (< 1 µm) µg/m³ 24 h 6. 22 SPM Suspended particulates (total) µg/m³ 24 h
7. 19 Pb Lead µg/m³ 24 h
8. 08 O3 Ozone µg/m³ 1 h
9. V4 C6H6 Benzene µg/m³ 24 h
10. 04 CO Carbon monoxide mg/m³ 1 h
Also the US EPA and other national and international authorities have identified indicators similar to the ones presented above. To provide international inter comparisons it is important to include at least the first priority pollutants in the database.
3.2 Site characterisation
It is important to bear in mind, when measuring air quality or analysing results from measurements that the data you are looking at is a sum of impacts or contributions originating from different sources on different scales.
Data should represent measurements collected at different stations representing different microenvironments, characterised by:
SC: Street canyon, RS: Roadside
I: Industrial UB: Urban Background R: Residential B: Regional Background Descriptions of each site should follow the Meta database for the measurement programme, which also includes specifications of parameters, samplers and monitors. Meteorological data should be measured at open sites so that the wind and dispersion conditions are representative for a larger area. Simple statistics on prevailing wind directions has to be prepared and presented as such, and these data will also provide a basis for the air quality assessment.
Another system of classification is to divide the measurement stations into 3 types of areas; urban, suburban and rural. In each of the areas there may be 3 types of
stations; traffic, industrial and background. The background stations are divided into; near-city background, regional and remote background stations.
Descriptions of the areas are given in the Table below:
Table 2: Area type classification and descriptions.
Type of area Description Type of
station Urban Continuously built-up area
Suburban Largely built-up area: continuous settlement of detached buildings mixed with non- urbanized areas
Rural Areas that not fulfill the criteria for urban/suburban areas
Traffic Industrial Background:
- Near city - Regional - Remote
3.3 The air quality monitoring system
A modern air quality monitoring system should include:
♦ Data collectors; sensors and monitors,
♦ Data transfer systems and data quality assurance/control procedures,
♦ Data bases,
♦ Statistical and numerical models (included air pollution dispersion models and meteorological forecast procedures),
♦ User friendly graphical presentation systems including Geographical Information Systems (GIS),
♦ A decision support system,
♦ Data distribution systems and communication networks for dissemination of results to “outside” users.
The measurements consist of monitors and samplers of different kinds developed for collecting information about the indicators selected. Instruments used in the EIMP/EEAA programme as well as in the CAIP developed system will be presented later.
The key features of a modern air quality monitoring and assessment system will normally include an integrated approach that combines monitoring, surveillance, information and planning and enables the user in a user friendly way to not only access data quickly, but also to use the data directly in the assessment and in the planning of actions.
The demand of the integrated system to enable monitoring, forecasting and warning of pollution situations has been and will be increasing in the future. The data may also be used for generating new indicators that relate directly to health impacts. This will require that numerical models are available with on-line data input as a part of the system.
3.4 Instruments and samplers
Instruments for measurements of air pollutants may vary strongly in complexity and price from the simplest passive sampler to the most advanced and most often expensive automatic remote sampling system based upon light absorption spectroscopy of various kinds. The following Table 3 indicates four typical types of instruments, their abilities and prices.
Table 3: Different types of instruments, their abilities and price.
Instrument type
Type of data collected
Data availability Typical averaging time
Typical price (US $) Passive
sampler
Manual, in situ After lab analyses 1-30 days 20 Sequential
sampler
Manual /semi- automatic , in situ
After lab analyses 24 h 5 000 Monitors Automatic
Continuous, in situ
Directly, on-line 1h >20 000 Remote
monitoring
Automatic/Continuo us, path integrated (space)
Directly, on-line <1 min >150 000
Relatively simple equipment is usually adequate to determine background levels (for some indicators), to check Air Quality Guideline values or to observe trends.
Also for undertaking simple screening studies, passive samplers may be adequate.
However, for complete determination of regional air pollution distributions, relative source impacts, hot spot identification and operation of warning systems more complex and advanced monitoring systems are needed. Also when data are needed for model verification and performance expensive monitoring systems are usually needed.
Meteorological data from the surface boundary layer is needed, and is normally collected along 10 m towers. In some cases data may be available for the whole atmospheric boundary layer. Automatic weather stations are currently being used in most field studies. Meteorological “surface data” are normally collected together with the air quality data and transferred to a central computer together with air pollution data. The Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) requires sensors for the most important parameters such as:
1. Wind speeds, 2. Wind directions, 3. Relative humidity,
4. Temperatures or vertical temperature gradients, 5. Net radiation,
6. Wind fluctuations or turbulence, 7. Atmospheric pressure and 8. Precipitation.
3.5 Data quality objectives
Procedures for Quality Assessment (QA) and Quality Control (QC) are developed to ensure that the data emerging from the monitoring programme will at least satisfy the data quality objectives (DQOs) defined by the responsible authorities.
Complete QA/QC procedures are rather complex, and they should be documented.
A very important element in the quality control procedures is the calibration procedures and the trace ability of the calibration standards used in the network and at each station. Institutions responsible for the QA/QC procedures and their follow- up may be national, regional or local
The accuracy of the air quality data and their spatial and temporal
representativeness is obviously very important for the quality of the assessments produced from the data. Data Quality Objectives (DQOs) are set, so that when they are fulfilled, one can use the data confidently for the purposes for which DQOs have been set.
The objectives that guide the quantification of DQOs, are set to enable comparison of air quality internationally. The data shall enable detection of the trend in air quality in the country as well as in each area where stations are located, over a reasonable time period (3-5 years, dependent upon the magnitude of the trend). The data shall also enable the assessments of exposure.
DQOs have been set for the following Data Quality Indicators:
♦ Accuracy
♦ Precision
♦ Area of representativeness
♦ Data time coverage
A summary of the European data quality objectives set so far is presented in the following table:
Data Quality Objectives
Monitoring objective Accuracy Precision Data completeness Representative-
Temporal Spatial ness (spatial)
Mapping/comparability ≤ 10% <2 ppb >90% 1) 1), 2)
Trend detection 3) >90% 1) 1), 2)
1) The DQOs are set for station-by-station comparison (for same station class) and for trend detection at any one station.
In the case of comparisons of e.g. cities or larger entities, or trend assessment for larger areas, the requirements to spatial coverage and representativity would be strict, and to quantify those requires more analysis.
2) To be eligible for comparison with a station of the same class in another location (city, country), specified representativeness criteria should be complied with.
To detect a trend with certain accuracy, the combined accuracy and precision of the measurement must be considerably better than the expected trend (expressed as relative change.
3.6 Data retrieval
For every site there is a need for a data acquisition system (DAS) to receive the measurement values collected by one or several gas or dust analysers,
meteorological sensors or other parameters. These parameters must be stored, every minute, every 5 min. or every hour locally and then transmitted to a central
computer via modem and telephone lines. The local storage time must be several days or up to some months in case of problems with modem, transmission lines or the central computer.
3.6.1 Data retrieval via telephone lines
The data retrieval from monitoring stations, which are equipped with modems and telephone lines, may be performed by the Computer centre using the following procedures:
♦ The Computer centre data base system asks for data automatically once a day (normally during night hours, at 02:00 hrs).
♦ The Computer centre operator initiates download (manually) which requires that the modem is functioning.
3.6.2 Monitoring stations without telephone lines
If telephone lines are not available at a monitoring station, data have to be collected manually on any form of electronic storage media. Calibration values should always follow the diskettes or memory stick, as there is no procedure for retrieving this information automatically.
The data from diskettes, CDs or memory sticks should be imported to the Central data base system directly and checked. Reports should be printed daily or as a minimum on a weekly basis.
3.6.3 Sampling stations
Data from manually operated sampling stations will have to be collected regularly dependent on the sampling schedule specified by the measurement programme. Air samples are collected mostly on filters; dry or impregnated. These filters are prepared in the chemical laboratory at the monitoring institution and will have to be brought back for analyses.
These data are manually imported into the database after quality controls and verification of the results.
3.7 Quality Assurance and QA/QC procedures
It is important for the operations of a monitoring network to include a comprehensive QA/QC programme to assure that the monitors are actually providing concentrations within the required level of uncertainty, and that malfunctions and errors are detected and corrected.
3.7.1 The quality organisation
The quality organisation will typically include the following functions/people:
• Operators focused on Quality Control
• The Quality Manager focused on Quality Assurance
• The Reference Laboratory focused on Quality Assurance and Quality Assessment
The operators are normally running the instruments, computer systems and models. They report status on quality matters to the Quality Manager.
The Quality Manager has the overall responsibility for the Quality System within the measurement network. It is the responsibility of the Quality Manager to assure that the operators are running the AQMS in compliance with the requirements of the Quality System. The Quality Manager will report any requests for changes or updates in the quality documentation to the Reference Laboratory. The Quality Manager will be responsible for initiating training programs.
The Quality Control activities cover all operational work such as routine maintenance, calibration, data collection, data validation and data reporting. For emission inventories and modelling it may cover activities such as entering or editing emission data in the emission inventory, running models and reporting results.
In addition to Quality Assurance and Quality Control, a third activity called Quality Assessment is usually implemented in the Quality System. The Quality Assessment provides for a periodic external audit of the Quality System and the operational activities.
Quality Assurance, Quality Control and Quality Assessment will all be parts of the Quality Plan. They have to be operational and co-ordinated and must be considered as necessary parts of any Air Quality Management System.
3.7.2 Documentation
It will be necessary to develop and implement a complete QA/QC system for the operational level of the air quality monitoring programme. Complete
documentation will have to be established, which explains in detail how to perform and record all operations necessary to run, maintain and calibrate the
instrumentation both in the laboratory and in the field. The procedures are supposed to be used by the operators in their daily work.
To keep the measurement instruments within the limits of the performance acceptance criteria it is necessary to operate them (maintain, calibrate, service, repair, etc.) according to certain procedures. The computer systems, covering data collection, database maintenance and use of the modelling tools has to be operated according to certain procedures too. These procedures, called Standard Operations Procedures (SOPs), are collected in the Quality Control part of the Quality Manual.
The Quality Control part of the Quality Manual will include procedures on:
• Maintenance of measurement instruments
• Calibration of measurement instruments
• Data collection
• Data validation
• Computer and data systems maintenance
• Emission inventory maintenance
• Running models
• Quality System audits
• Training
• Document handling and document version control
Each SOP will be documented in a specific form. The form will be completed by the operator during the execution of the SOP and stored systematically for later reference.
The operation of the central data retrieval system and database system will be documented in specific standard operational procedures, SOPs. The QA/QC procedures for the data retrieval system will include SOPs on:
• Operation of the data retrieval system
• Instrument status checking
• Data evaluation
The SOP on operation of the data retrieval system will cover activities such as defining, changing and removing sites in the data retrieval system, specifying data retrieval schedules and solving data communication problems. These operations will be performed when needed.
The SOP on instrument status checking will cover remote checking of instrument status and performance as well as alarm handling. These operations will be performed regularly, e.g. once a day.
The SOP on data evaluation will cover the technical data evaluation process. This is the first level of data evaluation and is based on technical knowledge about the data. It includes data inspection, identifying and marking invalid data, converting raw data to scientific units and making the final data ready for statistical
evaluation. These operations will be performed regularly, e.g. once a month.
The exact content of these SOPs will depend on the selected system. The operation of the data base system will also be documented in specific SOPs. The QA/QC procedures for the data base system will include a SOP on Data base maintenance The SOP on data base maintenance will cover typical data base maintenance activities such as data base backup, data base tuning and space allocation. These operations will be performed regularly. The period will be defined after gaining experience with the installed system, number of stations, etc.
3.8 Reference laboratory
The Reference Laboratory for air quality, as it has been established in Egypt at NIS, will be responsible for administration and maintenance of the Quality System.
This includes preparing new procedures, updating the quality documentation, informing the network operators on changes and updates in the Quality System.
The Reference Laboratory will also maintain the reference calibration standards.
The reference standards will represent the highest level of calibration in the measurement network. The Reference laboratory will provide trace ability to the reference standards to all measurement instruments in the monitoring network.
The activities to ensure trace ability for calibrations at Reference Laboratory Air are at present organised in the following way:
1. The Reference Laboratory performs calibrations, audits etc., and 2. EEAA purchases the reference gases and the calibration services from
Switzerland necessary to establish trace ability in the calibration and other activities.
This arrangement is not always optimal and the Reference laboratory personnel have stated that the arrangement may result in negative effects. In the future programme it may be necessary to discuss more optimal solutions.
Finally, the Reference Laboratory will perform audits in the measurement network to assess the actual quality of the measurements.
3.8.1 Audits
Audits from NIS have been undertaken routinely as part of the EEAA/EIMP programme. These audits are working, but the system will have to be followed up by EEAA and the reports presented in the bi-annual seminars will represent a basis for improvements and upgrading.
Audits as part of the Quality System will have to focus on operational matters like maintenance, calibration, action criteria, data evaluation, record keeping, training and audits follow-up. The calibration laboratory at the Monitoring institution (CEHM) will ensure that the measurement instruments are in good working order and calibrated with trace ability to the Reference laboratory.
As part of the audits it will also be important to include inspections of the intake systems, and check that cleaning and maintenance has been properly followed up by the Monitoring Institutions.
3.9 Data storage and database
Databases have been established at the Monitoring Institutions (CEHM and IGSR) and at EEAA. These databases occasionally need upgrading, and updated
computers and hardware systems may also be needed.
To meet the future requirements of fast and on-line access to air quality data and assessments we have indicated that that EEAA should start preparing the tools for performing an air quality management planning system. The tools for such assessment and abatement strategy planning procedures are available.
At least a measurement database has to be established to store, retrieve and
organise the measurements in a fast and organised formate. It should be possible to
carry out various analyses on data stored in the database, such as statistical calculations and quality assurance tests. Data will also have to be viewed graphically and printed.
The databases contain information that enables an evaluation of the actual state of the environment and it includes data for establishing trend analyses, warnings and the undertaking of countermeasures in case of episodic high pollution.
The data in the measurement database are normally organised in data series (measurement time series). The data series are identified by a set of properties that describe the values. The necessary properties to identify data series in the
measurement database are given in the table below:
Information Properties describing the data series
Properties describing each value
Where are the measurements taken
Station, Measurement position
Description, map, UTM What is measured Medium, Component
(Indicator), Unit
Formula, unit How is this measured Instrument, Sampling
method, Analysis
When is this measured From-time, To-time
What was the result Value
Quality status of the measurements
Quality status flag, Exception flag
One available database system that meets the requirements of modern air quality assessment is the AirQUIS system, which was developed by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) (www.NILU.no) to handle a number of air pollution tasks and challenges. It is based on a Geographical Information System (GIS), it is operated on an Oracle database and it supports direct data and
information transfer, data presentation tools as well as statistical and numerical modelling capabilities for now casting and forecasting. It also supports Internet based data dissemination tools. Such system is presently being tested in EEAA.
The AirQUIS system consists of several databases, which serve as main storage platforms for:
• On-line collected ambient air quality data,
• Calculated fields of emissions, concentrations and exposure,
• Historical data with trends, background information (land use, population)
• National and international regulations and air quality limits
• Information on the support and decision-making processes
The system offers several options for graphical presentation. Time series data can be present updated e.g. every hour included one or several indicators.
4 Existing EEAA air quality measurement programmes
The proposal for a future National Air Quality Monitoring Network presented in this report has been based on the results and content of two air quality monitoring programmes developed in Egypt during the last 8 years. These programmes are:
• EIMP-air (Environmental Information and Monitoring Programme) supported by Danida
• CAIP (Cairo Air Improvement Programme) supported by USAID EEAA has expressed a need for a comprehensive assessment of the overall requirements for establishing a complete national air quality monitoring network.
Once a plan has been elaborated EEAA will seek funding from relevant sources, including international donors, but there is not necessarily any commitment from Danida's side to support further development of Egypt's air quality monitoring network. The regularly occurring air pollution “episodes” in Cairo has further accentuated this need during the autumn season.
In the EIMP Phasing-out Phase proposal it was stated that this report would include:
• Assessment of current EIMP and CAIP air quality monitoring networks.
• Establishment of EEAA objectives for a complete national air quality monitoring network.
The existing networks are briefly presented and assessed in this chapter.
4.1 The EIMP air quality monitoring programme
The Environmental Information and Monitoring Programme, EIMP, was
established for Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) in co-operation with Danida in order to have a view of the present environment. As part of the EIMP programme a national air pollution-monitoring programme consisting of a total 42 measurement sites has been developed and established.
The design of the EIMP Air Quality Monitoring network included:
• Data collectors; sensors and monitors
• Data transfer systems and data quality assurance/control procedures
• Data bases and
• Data distribution systems.
4.1.1 The sites
The design, development, construction and installation of the EIMP measurement programme started in 1997 and were completed in July 1999. The Centre of Environmental Hazard Mitigation (CEHM) at Cairo University and the Institute of Graduate Studies and Research (IGSR) at Alexandria University are operating on behalf of EEAA, a total of:
• 14 sites located in Greater Cairo area,
• 8 sites in Alexandria area,
• 7 sites in Delta,
• 3 sites in Canal area and
• 10 sites in Upper Egypt and Sinai
The total programme include more than one hundred instruments in field at any time, consisting of:
• 46 automatic monitors for SO2, NOx, PM10, O3, and CO,
• 26 AirMetrics and Hivol PM10 samplers
• 14 sequential samplers for SO2 and NO2
• 5 High volume samplers for TSP
• 18 dust fall collectors
• 8 Automatic Weather stations
• A number of passive samplers (flexible)
The sites selected represent different area types, bearing in mind that the EIMP programme is mainly designed to monitor the impact in areas where people live.
The area characteristics where instruments are already operating are:
• Industrial areas (represented by 12 sites),
• Urban city centres (9 sites),
• Streets and road sides (3 sites),
• Residential areas (15 sites),
• Regional and background areas (3 sites).
The field operations require that trained monitoring experts are visiting the stations every week. Other experts are responsible for the databases and quality assurance of the programme, while a third set of experts should take care of maintenance, repair and calibrations. All these instruments are being operated by a team of trained experts at CEHM at Cairo University (for Cairo, Canal area and Upper Egypt) and IGSR at Alexandria University (for Alexandria and the Delta region).
A map showing the sites in Egypt is presented in Figure 1.
Figure 1: The EEAA/EIMP air quality monitoring sites in Egypt as operated in 2004.
4.1.2 Indicators and compound
The indicators and compounds selected for the EIMP air quality monitoring programme are in accordance with international recognised priority pollutants, and are linked to international guidelines and standards. The guidelines, as given by for instance the World Health Organisation (WHO, 1987), US-EPA or the European Union have been the basis for the selection of basic priority pollutants.
These represent the main air pollution indicators, and include usually:
• Sulphur dioxide (SO2),
• Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and/or NOx (nitrogen oxides),
• Total suspended particulate matter (TSP), or better PM10 (suspended particles with diameter less than 10 micrometer),
• Ozone (O3)
• Carbon monoxide (CO).
The indicators selected also meet the requirements of the Law number 4 for the Environment, Egypt 1994 (EEAA, 1994). Not all parameters are being measured
by the EIMP/EEAA programme at all sites. This will be dependent upon site specifications and typical dominating sources in the specific area. In some sites in Egypt hydrocarbons (NMHC or VOC) and dust fall are also being measured.
Black smoke (BS) or soot has been analysed by the EIMP programme since May 1999. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) has also been measured as part of the EIMP programme. For these pollutants no Air Quality Limit values are available.
Dust fall (DF) measurements are already part of the programme, as dust is assumed to be a major air pollution problem in Egypt. No Air Quality Limit values are given for dust fall. However, western countries normally state that whenever dust fall values are less than 10 g/m2 per 30 days, the area may be considered clean.
Several reports have been prepared based on the measurements, and a selection of different publications can be found in the list of References. The following typical reporting procedures are being followed:
• Daily report with a statement of the last 24-hour air quality (at EEAA)
• Monthly reports summarising the air pollution at all sites in Egypt (at EEAA)
• Quarterly reports (data presentations from CEHM and IGSR)
• Annual reports (summary from CEHM and IGSR as basis for report in Arabic language produced at EEAA)
In addition a number of newsletters, papers and memos have been produced during the course of the project.
4.1.3 Summary of the air quality in Egypt
Suspended dust (measured as PM10 and TSP) is the major air pollution problem in Egypt. Annual average concentrations of PM10 range between 100 and 200 µg/m3 in urban and residential areas and between 200 and 500 µg/m3 near industrial areas.
Daily average concentrations of more than 6 times the Air Quality Limit value for Egypt are being recorded occasionally (2 to 3 % of the time) in the urban areas of Cairo. The natural background concentration of PM10 in Egypt has been evaluated to represent levels close to or around the Air Quality Limit value of 70 µg/m3 as a daily average.
The concentration levels of SO2 have also been observed to exceed the Air Quality Limit values in industrial areas and during some occasions in the big cities. Both the long term (annual averages) and the short-term (1-hour average) Air Quality Limit levels have been exceeded.
Eight-hour average CO concentrations in streets and along roads in Cairo have frequently exceeded the Air Quality Limit value. In the streets of Cairo, with high traffic density, the 8-hour average CO concentration, especially during daytime hours, was exceeded in 5 to 33 % of the time during the last 4 years.
High concentrations of surface ozone have been observed as a result of regionally produced secondary pollutants in the Cairo region. Also the background
measurements of tropospheric ozone at Ras Mohamed, at the southern tip of Sinai, show high concentrations especially in the summer season. On an annual basis the
8-hour average limit value (120 µg/m3) was exceeded in the urban area of Cairo in about 5 to 10 % of the time in 2000.
NO2 is not a big problem in Egypt based on a rather high air quality limit value of 400 µg/m3 as a one-hour average limit value. The 24-hour average limit value of 150 µg/m3, however, was exceeded during one to five days in the streets of Cairo.
4.2 Assessment of the CAIP programme
Meetings with the experts operating the CAIP air pollution monitoring programme have been held to evaluate the quality of the measurements as well as giving input to planning of one total national monitoring programme for Egypt.
The original CAIP programme was measuring PM10 /PM2,5 in the greater Cairo area at 36 sites. This has been reduced to 20 sites. A map in Figure 2 indicate the positions of the following sites:
Table 4: Sites operated by the CAIP programme for measurements of PM10 and PM2.5.
ID Site code start Type Northing Easting PM2,5 PM10 1ElQualalySquare EQS 1June Traffic 3326603 330594 X X 3KobryElKobba MET 1June Mixed 3328951 335190 X X 7TebbinSouth TBS 17July Industrial 3292317 336948 XC XC 10OldMaadi EEA 1June Residential 3315847 331076 X X
11Giza AGL 10June Traffic 3323063 327125 X X
136thOctoberCity OCT 1-nov Residential 3313591 298716 X 16Mokotam ATI 1-nov Residential 3321420 335413 X 18ShobraKheima MYC 1-nov Residential 3332591 332797 X 19ElSahel TTI 1-nov Industrial 3332027 332511 XC XC 21Matarya DRC 1June Mixed 3333406 337635 X X 22ElWaily AMP 1-nov Mixed 3330857 333996 X 25Imbaba HTI 1-nov Residential 3329039 328829 X
26Kaha KFC 1June Background 3350606 326517 X X
29Basateen LRC 1June Mixed 3318364 331495 X X 31TahrirSquare AUC 1-nov Mixed 3324855 329990 X X 32Zamalek BIS 1-nov Residential 3326590 328661 X X 33Helwan HFS 1-nov Residential 3302944 338983 X 34ElMassara SBH 1June Mixed 3309097 335395 X X 35Heliopolis OLS 1-nov Residential 3331676 339733 X 37AbuZabal ABZ 1June Industrial 3350930 342637 X
Sampling is undertaken using AirMetrics samplers every six day. The analyses have been undertaken at the Institute for Geological Surveys. Monthly reports are being prepared, but are delayed by about 5 months. The analyses take 2 months to finalise. This “problem” are being looked into and would be solved if analyses was to be undertaken at EEAA.
The CAIP programme also operates 4 meteorological stations (simple Met1 instruments). The meteorological stations are located at:
Kaha, Aby Zabal, Maadi and Tabbin South.
Software supplied by these instrument do NOT allow hourly data for longer periods to be imported into a database
Figure 2: Measurements of PM10 and PM2.5 operated by the CAIP programme.
The Shoubra site together with Abu Zabal is considered very important. Also Tabbin South is considered an important measurement area due to the high
exposure of suspended dust to the population here. The Kaha site should according to the objectives represent a “background” area. However, there are so much activities, open air burning etc. in that area that the concentrations of PM10 are on the same level as in the city of Cairo.
From the CAIP network we have selected five high priority sites, which will have to be part of the future network. Table 5 shows that the typical average PM10
concentrations at these sites range between 200 and 250
µg/m
3.Three of these sites are coinciding with measurements undertaken as part of the EIMP programme. Imbaba and ElWaily, however, are new areas, which will be included in the future. At these sites it may also be necessary to measure PM2.5.
Table 5: Five selected highly polluted sites for PM10 measurements in the future.
TOP 5 PM
10Site_No Site_Code Easting Northing Average
37 Abu Zabal 342637 3350930 249,6 18 Shobra Kheima/MYC 332797 3332591 218,3 25 Imbaba 328829 3329039 215,5 22 El Waily 337635 3330857 213,8
1 El Qualaly Square 330594 3326603 203,2
A comparison of PM10 concentrations measured by the CAIP programme and by the EIMP programme has been undertaken as shown in Figure 3.
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Helwan Basateen Shobra Kheima/MYC Heliopolis Matarya El Sahel Maadi/EEAA El Waily El Massara Mokotam Tahrir Square Tebbin South Giza/AGL 6th October City Imbaba Abu Zabal Kaha Kobry El Kobba El Qualaly Square Zamalek Qualaly Abbasseya Shoubra El-Gomhoriya 6 October Tabbin Fum Al-khalig Kaha 10 Ramadan
CAIP -E IM P P M1 0 d a ta d u rin g F eb 0 3
C A IP E IM P
Figure 3: An example of comparisons between PM10 concentrations measured by CAIP and EIMP. Different types of samplers were used in EIMP. None of the sites are the same.
These types of comparisons have been run for several months. The general conclusion is that the levels of PM10 measured by CAIP are similar to those measured by the EIMP programme.
In the proposal for future air quality measurements in Egypt we have included PM10 and at some sites PM2.5 measurements taking into account that the quality of the measurements seem to be comparable. The future common handling and analyses of filters will have to be decided by EEAA.
5 Proposed future air quality monitoring programme for Egypt
5.1 Priorities for Egypt
A list of priorities will have to be prepared for keeping up an air quality network for EEAA that will meet the most urgent needs and at the same time meet the international requirements for quality and standard.
Such a list will include discussions on:
• Indicators (or compounds)
• Measurement methods
• Sites and areas to monitor
• Data retrieval system
• Data dissemination and data storage
The most important indicators for air pollution in Egypt, when related to
international guidelines and standards are particulate matter (PM). The network of continuous on-line monitors as well as the manually operated AirMetrics network will have to be considered as one total system.
The second priority pollutants will be NO2, ozone, SO2 and CO (in that sequence).
Other indicators such as BTX could be introduced in the future, while PAH and other organic compounds may be measured intermittently and not on a continuous basis. Some of the points of view as well as conclusions are presented in the following.
5.2 Indicators and instruments
The most important air pollution indicator in Egypt is at present PM measured as PM10. A basic network of monitors will have to be established for on-line transmission of data and information.
In addition to the on-line network of PM10 monitors, a number of sites should report PM10 and PM2.5 based on the AirMetrics network established by CAIP and EIMP. These data are manually collected and analysed and reported after some weeks.
The second important indicators for characterising air quality in Egypt are probably ozone and NO2. The available data have reported that the limit values have been
SO2 concentrations will have to be measured in all major industrial areas. In some of the industrial areas we have recorded that national and international limit values have been exceeded frequently. Also at least one site in central Cairo and
Alexandria will have to report SO2 originating from diesel-operated vehicles.
At a selected number of street and roadside stations also CO will have to be monitored. Exceeding of limit values has mainly been reported for the 8-hour average concentrations. VOC should be measured in areas where hydrocarbon emissions are expected based on a manually operated sampling programme. One on-line BTEX station could in addition be established in the city centre of Cairo.
Additional compounds influencing on the composition and nuisance of atmospheric pollutants have been discussed. In some areas, especially south of Alexandria, H2S may be a major problem to the population. Ammonium chloride has been shown to be the third largest component of PM10 concentrations measured at Kaha, Zamalek and downwind from the Kaliobeya area. The reason may be the large emissions of ammonia from hundreds of chicken farms combined with the use of fertilisers in agricultural activities.
There is still also a need for analyses of lead near some of the industrial activities in Egypt. There will have to be a schedule and sampling programme prepared for this purpose based on the high volume PM10 filter samplers and some of the AirMetrics filters collected.
5.3 Sites and areas
The sites where air pollution will have to be measured and reported in the future have been discussed. We have preferred to divide the measurement sites into 3 classes of sites. A set of first priority sites has been selected to obtain on-line data as a basis for daily reporting of air quality. The sites should be the following:
• ElQuolaly, Cairo city centre highly impacted by traffic
• FumAlKhalig, Cairo, traffic and general urban
• Abbasseya, Cairo, urban background/ residential
• Gomhoreya Street, Cairo, street canyon site
• Kaha, upwind from prevailing winds at Cairo
• ElShouhada, central Alexandria traffic and general activities
• KafrZayat, most polluted industrial site in Delta
In the future it may be necessary to install an on-line site in Heliopolis. We will propose that the shelter and instruments to this site will be moved from Assyut.
Instruments presently operated at the Giza Campus site will be moved to a new site to be established at Giza Square. This site should measure NO2, SO2 and PM10. Only ozone will be measured at Giza Campus to evaluate the regional formation of ozone in the greater Cairo area.
To keep up and operate an on-line air quality monitoring programme in Upper Egypt is very expensive and it is also labour demanding. It is therefore suggested that most of the measurement programme for Upper Egypt would be based on sampling systems, which will be collected and analysed in a central laboratory
However, on-line monitoring of SO2 should be performed at the site in KomOmbo.
This monitor will be taken from Aswan. In Aswan we will continue the on-line measurements of ozone.
Several changes, improvements and additions have been prepared and effectuated during the Phasing-out Phase of the EIMP programme as presented in the next chapter. New monitoring sites, improvements at existing sites as well as new procedures for field calibrations have been introduced.
5.4 New sites already decided
A new location was selected for monitoring in Suez in May 2003 (Sivertsen and Dreiem 2003a, Appendix B.8). Lack of permissions from the local police resulted in a change of position. The new site has been operated since the summer of 2004.
Danida had approved two new sites for installations in Beni Suef. A site visit and site studies were undertaken on 21 October 2003. A proposal for installations included a rough cost estimated is presented in Mission report 03 (Sivertsen and Dreiem 2003b,Appendix B4).
The air quality network will consist of two main stations in the city of Beni Suef.
The main stations will mainly contain automatic monitoring equipment located at permanent measurement sites. Two permanent sites have been selected.
Meteorological measurement will be undertaken along a 10 m mast at the station located at the roof of the Governerate building. In the most polluted areas also PM10 measurements will be undertaken with simple AirMetrics samplers. A few passive-sampling sites has also been identified.
5.5 Instrument lifetime and upgrading
The normal lifetime of air quality monitors that are being used in the EIMP programme is between 5 and 10 years. This implies that many of the monitors that have been installed since the end of 1997 till 1999 already are reaching the end of their normal lifetime.
To keep up the quality in the monitoring system, as well as assure sustainability we have proposed that old instruments are gradually replaced with new instruments.
The procedures in other countries demand that instruments are taken off field when expensive parts indicate that the lifetime of the instrument has been reached. The instrument is then collected for storage in the laboratory for 5 years, and used for spare parts while a new instrument is being installed in field.
We will also propose to move gas monitors around in the system to assure that the most interesting and most impacted areas receive the attention needed. For the PM10 monitors, however, an urgent need for upgrading the instrument park has been demonstrated and reported in a memo presented to EEAA on 5 October 2004.
The background is that the on-line continuous measurements of PM10 (as an indicator for suspended particles in air) are considered the first priority in the air- monitoring programme for Egypt.
There will also soon be a lack of gas monitors. Only about 33 out of a total of 53 monitors installed as a part of the EIMP programme were operating in October 2004, as seen from Table 6.
Table 6: Operating monitors in the EIMP programme as of October 2004.
Para meter
Working monitor N Not working N Tot PM10 Quo, Tab, Abb, Fum, Kah 5 IGSR, KaZ, Ass,
Mah
4 9 NOx Gom, Tab, Fum, CaU,
Sho, Suez, KaZ
7 Quo, Mad, Kah, Ass, Man, IGSR?
6 13 SO2 Quo, Gom, Abb, Tab,
Mad, Fum, Suez?, IGSR, Sho, KaZ
10 Sho, CaU, Ass, Asw, Mans? Mah?
6 16
O3 Abb, Asw, Ras, IGres 4 Kah, CaU? 2 6
CO Gom, Fum, IGS 3 3
met Ab, Tab, Asw, Mans? 4 Kah, IGres 2 6
Total avail. monitors 33 20 53
There were several reasons for monitoring being out of operations; they were taken in for calibrations, for repair, they had missing spare parts, unknown errors in the instrument, and some instruments are already taken out of operations forever for the reason that crucial parts cannot be obtained from the instrument provider.
5.6 Proposed future air quality measurement programme
Based on the discussion with EEAA experts and the teams at CEHM, IGSR as well as the personnel working with the PM sampling programme developed during CAIP, we have presented a first proposal for an updated measurement programme for air quality in Egypt. This proposal is presented in the following 3 Tables.
5.7 The highest priority stations for on-line transmission of data
A total of nine high priority stations will be operating on-line transferring data on a daily basis to the central computer at CEHM and at EEAA. These stations will have to get first priority in the future system. QA/QC as well as calibrations and instruments will have to be available at all times.
When considering the present status of the monitoring system as presented in Table 1 we will have to reorganise and move some of the monitors already located at different sites. A complete plan for this upgrading will have to be developed.
Table 7 presents the eight priority sites as well as the monitors and indicators included.
Table 7: First priority on-line monitoring system for Egypt..
ID Station Name
Area Type On-line data
Monitors
SO2 NOx PM10 O3 CO Met
Kol El-Kolaly Urban Center 1 1 1 Gom El-Gomhoryia Street Canyon 1 1 1
Abb Abbassyia Urb. /Res. 1 1 1 1
FKa Fum El-Khalig Roadside/Urb. 1 1 1 1 GiS Giza square Urb/road 1 1 1
Kah Kaha Regional back 1 1 1 1
Sh El Shouhada Traffic 1 1 1 1
KZa Kafr El-Zayat Industrial/Res. 1 1 1 1
Hel Heliopolis Urban 1 1 1
At Quolaly we also propose to measure BTEX continuously. We see that there is a need for 8 PM10 monitors only in this part of the monitoring programme. Presently there are only 5 such instruments operating in Egypt as seen from Table 6.
In the future it may be possible to establish an automatic data retrieval system collecting the data every hour into a central database. The AirQUIS database has been tested at EEAA, and discussions have proven that automatic transfer is possible and may be developed.
5.8 Second priority network
A second set of air quality measurement stations will combine monitors and samplers. Among these stations are also four selected sites for ground level ozone measurements; Ras Mohamed, Aswan, Alexandria IGSR Regional and the Cairo University campus area (at Giza). Together with the two priority sites Kaha and Abbasseya included above, the ozone programme will represent different purposes, and may give a good picture of the background ozone level in Egypt as well as regionally formed ozone.
There is also a new site proposed in the Governerate of Sharqiya to monitor the plumes generated from burning of agricultural waste in eastern Delta. The site proposed is located between Bilbeis and Minyet ElQamh, in the small village of Nishwa.
The new sites, which are now being established in Beni Suef are combined monitoring and sampling sites, which are also included in the total programme for EEAA
There will thus be a total of 24 sites equipped with monitors of some kind.
Whenever monitors break down totally, the first priority programme will have to be secured. Monitors from sites such as ElMahalla and ElMaadi may be used in a case of lack of monitors in the first priority programme.
